Citco Fund Services, a firm that caters to hedge funds and other financial companies, will open an office in uptown Charlotte with plans to hire more than 200 employees during the next five years. The global company — with offices in New York, Miami and other cities — also will relocate some senior managers to the Queen City to launch the new office in the Charlotte Plaza tower on College Street. In total, Citco plans to eventually employ 258 here.

Citco will invest about $3 million in the new office and staffing. The company is eligible to receive state job-development investment grants of up to $4 million over six years.

The jobs, on average, will pay more than $78,000 annually, plus benefits. The average wage in Mecklenburg County is $48,770.

“This decision couldn’t have been any easier,” Citco Chief Operating Officer Jay Peller says. In addition to the tax incentives, he noted Charlotte’s experienced labor pool, low cost of living, real estate, colleges and access to clients on the East Coast as the main factors in picking Charlotte for the firm’s new office.

“You have a keen understanding of what our industry is all about,” he says. And “between the nearby beaches, the golf and being close to my clients, you can see all the positives.”

Peller says the firm will hire financial analysts, accountants and other support staff. The Charlotte office will primarily serve hedge funds as a third-party administrator. Local employees will reconcile financial data, perform back-office support for trading activity, implement anti-money-laundering systems and perform investor relations for clients in North America.

Peller says the new office is fueled by strong demand for Citco’s hedge-fund services. He says only about 50 percent of funds used a third-party administrator before the recession. But more funds are seeking such services as investors ask for more protection.

“We’re not a regulator, but we do look out for the investors,” Peller says. “So we’re one of the good guys.”

Bob Gavin, Citco’s facilities manager, says an uptown lease will be finalized this month, and he hopes to have new hires in training by the end of the third quarter. The office will open in October.

Partners who assisted with this project include Mecklenburg County, the city of Charlotte, the Charlotte Regional Partnership, Charlotte Center City Partners and the Charlotte Chamber, as well as the N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Community College System and the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

While recruiting Citco, Foxx touted his desire to diversify the city’s employment base by welcoming more small and midsize businesses in addition to Fortune 500 companies. Foxx says Citco’s decision to open in Charlotte shows the city is emerging from the recession.

“This city is not only poised for economic recovery. But we are recovering and we are recovering well,” he says.

Citco Hedge Fund Services is part of the Citco Group of Cos., a family of independent financial-service providers serving hedge funds, private-equity and real estate firms, institutional banks, Global 1000 companies and wealthy individuals.